4:00 IST, Ninth day, Eighth month, 3078 PV | Alpha Centauri IEC Megastation / Antechamber
"Greetings contestants, this is it. The day you all have been waiting for. Before we begin, allow me to explain the basic procedure for the next few hours.
First, you all will be brought upon a stage and asked to give a few details about yourself to our audience.
Secondly, one representative from each sovereign species will give a short speech to the contestants.
Thirdly, the contestants will each be given an insignia on their foreheads to display that they are contestants and under IEC protection.
Lastly, we will play a message from the IEC's founder, Sir Slak Korb.
If there are any questions, too bad, it is far too late to ask questions. Now without further ado, please proceed through this door."
Well, I suppose it is time. We, the seven contestants of humanity's trial of ascension will now be presented to the entire universe in a grand ceremony. On top of that, we have to give a small speech, which I was not warned about. As I think these thoughts, Ray (who is still standing awkwardly beside me) speaks.
"Drat, our reunion has been cut short. I'm not done with you, when this day is over you better not disappear again Mr. Jerk."
With that statement made, she gives me a hard pat on the back and walks off. I swear, some day my augmentation kit is going to register her as hostile and start defending me from her relentless physical abuse.
I quickly hurry to follow behind her, we both leave in the middle of the pack of contestants. I notice some of them giving the pair of us strange looks. It could either be out of jealousy or fear, I'm not sure.
As we exit the door, we emerge into a giant stadium-like venue. There is a large stage in the center with seven podiums. Dotted around the rest of the stadium are various fauna and flora from Earth. Oh, and up above, it appears that there is actually a blue sky, complete with clouds and a sun. It feels very trippy, to be in a place that feels exactly like Earth when I know we are trillions of kilometers away on an alien megastation.
The worst part, there is a crowd. A massive crowd. With some quick mental math I estimate that there are around fifty thousand aliens in the crowd. Many of them are dressed in fancy clothes and I can presume they hold some political importance. I didn't expect there to be this many in attendance, considering it also being live broadcast all around the universe.
As we exit, the crowd cheers. Ray, as is expected, waves and makes strange motions to egg the crowd on. The cheering gets even louder, and by the time we reach the center stage, they are practically jumping out of their seats to get good looks at us.
It makes sense, only two of these trials have happened before. We are undoubtedly among the most popular people in the entire universe right now. Species from all across the universe will be clamoring to see the representatives for humanity. After all, one of the seven contestants will gain unimaginable power and influence.
All the contestants quickly find a pedestal and stand behind it. I chose the pedestal fourth from the right. Ray chose the one directly to my right. To my left is a behemoth of a man, he is wearing a UFH general's uniform. Based upon my data I identify him as Marcos Riven, a 3 star general (with six stars being the highest rank). He has black hair, red eyes, and stands at 189cm. He is also layered with pure muscle. He is one imposing man, I definitely don't want to make an enemy out of him.
Shortly after we settle behind our podiums, a holographic window appears above each of our heads. Likely displaying basic information to the viewers. Next, a hole opens up in the floor, and out rises none other than the Gamekeeper.
The Gamekeeper seems to have gone all out designing his outfit for this occasion. His physical appearance is what you would expect from an ancient Vaux. The Gamekeeper's tail seems to be around four meters in length, which means they are among the oldest of the Vaux species (I shall put more info about the Vaux in my codex). It is not long before The Gamekeeper starts speaking.
"Greetings, ladies, gentlemen, and everything in between and outside of such labels. It is with great honor and humility that I announce that the induction ceremony for Humanity's trial of ascension has now commenced." At these words, the crowds erupt into a roar of sound, The Gamekeeper continues, "Now, as much as I would like to let the contestants bathe in their fame, we have a tight schedule to keep today. So without further ado, let us move on to the introductions portion of this ceremony."
The pedestal on the far right lights up, seeming to indicate it is time for the contestant to give their introduction. Naturally, the contestant starts speaking without hesitation. She must be in her mid-twenties, with light blue hair and blue eyes. She is wearing a plain white dress and has a pair of music note shaped earrings on.
"Why hello there fellow people of the universe. You already know this, but my name is April Potter. My talents primarily lie in music, however I am ready to make a good effort in this wonderful trial." With that brief introduction, the light goes out and the next podium turns on.
This time, it is a young man with yellow hair and brown eyes. He is wearing a large leather duster with a pair of jeans. He also has one of them old fashioned cowboy hats on his head.
"How do ya do people? Name's Geo Riker. I come from the far off planet known as Io of the Sol system. It's a pleasure to be here with yall, I hope we can have a fun trial and whatnot."
His light goes off, and next up is Ray. Who we have already learned about. Though, I must say, she is really pulling off her flight suit, it must be the lighting.
"Woah, this place sure is big isn't it. Cant believe little ol me is finally up on the big stage. I wonder if my friends back home are watching." She waves out at the crowd, and they erupt into brief applause and cheering. "Anyways, names' Rayleigh Inan, self-identified otaku who is obsessed with all things to do with cool spaceships. Nice to meet you all, I hope we can all be friends and have a fun time."
In typical Ray fashion, she plays off her character perfectly. Somehow lightening the mood while also giving a pretty level-headed impression. Next up is me, the nineteen year old NEET, a glasses-wearing stick of a man, wearing a t-shirt (with a cool looking spaceship on it) and a pair of sweatpants.
"Greetings fellow people of this universe. I am none other than the esteemed Kovon Ducker, son of Kraven Ducker, inventor of humanity's NeuralSink technology. I am greatly honored to be given this opportunity, I promise I shall make good use of it. This seems like it'll be a fun game, so bring it on!"
The crowd is dead silent. It seems that my introduction was not up to comparison with Ray's. Perhaps they find my catchphrase to be cringy, too bad, I love it and will continue using it. As is typical, she is always showing me up when it comes to social interaction. Next up is Marcos, who is standing to my left.
"Greetings comrades, it is a great honor for myself to be selected as a representative of humanity. My name is Marcos Riven, I hope that you shall remember me as we progress through these trials. Through great effort, I believe we can all create a beautiful universe together."
Marcos delivers a very formal speech, likely due to his military experience. Yet it somehow sounds a lot better than mine did. Next up is a man of smaller stature, he has bronze hair and green eyes. He is wearing a pair of dress pants, a bronze t-shirt and a pair of steel-toed boots.
"Woah, this place sure is advanced. Does anyone know what material these pedestals are made out of? It seems like stone but feels like silicon. Also this crazy atmosphere, how the crank is made inside of a station, the physics involved in the light scattering don't allow for it. Oh, wait, I'm giving an introduction, sorry. My assigned name is Brian Klein. I can't wait to learn all sorts of new things and really experiment with this strange technology."
As I expected, the guy is a complete nerd. Not to say I'm much different, but at least I can control my impulse to randomly start blabbing about tech. Apparently before he was a chief mechanical engineer for one of the biggest companies on Ganymede. He seems like a very useful ally to have with all this ridiculous tech that's just lying around.
Last up is a girl. I say that with emphasis because the feeling she gives off is very strange, almost as if she is far older than she appears. She has pink hair and purple eyes, must've had retinal modifications. She wears a very fancy looking deep purple dress. She also is adorned with several expensive-looking bracelets and earrings. She seriously creeps me out, and she hasn't even spoken yet.
"Oh, it's my turn. Hello there inferior beings. It is I, the magnificent Luna Aurora, the undisputed best human ever born. I suggest you all forfeit this match and kneel before me now. It saves me the time of having to crush you all myself *tsk*. I don't know why I should feel honored to be here, it was already a given due to my overwhelming genius."
Ok, this girl is either completely crazy, or a major threat. My gut is leaning more towards both. The way that she speaks with pure confidence hints to it being more than just an act. She truly means what she says. I will definitely keep a close eye on her in the future.
As her pedestal goes dark, The Gamekeeper speaks once again.
"Now that our batch of contestants have formally introduced themselves, it is now time for representatives from each sovereign species to make addresses to the contestants."
For brevity's sake, instead of verbatim writing down what the representatives said, I will simply give short summaries.
First off, the dignitary from the Vaux race slithers up onto the stage. Their tail is only around two meters long. They briefly speak about how they are glad to see that our augmentation kits are functioning properly and wish us all the best of luck.
Next, the Shesah's representative gracefully leaps up onto the stage and stands up. Being a species of feline-like people sure does have its benefits to mobility. They speak about the merits of peace and how all of us contestants should strive to work together to propel humanity forward.
Next, the Arkan representative floats onto the stage. Its synthetic core is hovering nicely off the ground, surrounded by its eight floating appendages that are equipped with all manner of tools. It speaks briefly about how our ships have been holding up, ensuring us that if any repairs are necessary it will personally do them itself.
Next, the Itokin representative scuttles onto stage. Its five legs indicate that it is of middle age. It's my first time seeing one in person, and its squidlike tentacles around its mouth kinda give me creeps. It does not speak. Instead it pulls out an orb and activates it. It quickly blooms into a beautiful rose flower that floats, suspended by a massless-field in the middle of the stage. It deactivates the orb and leaves after a few seconds.
Next, is the representative of the Zekan. Instead of being physical, the Zekan is a digital race. An android carries a holographic projector up onto the stage. There is the projected consciousness of the Zekan representative. They briefly speak, and say that they hope we are finding our MPAD and shipboard AI's very useful.
Second to last, is the Pota representative. It walks its way onto the stage. It stands at around 1.21 meters tall. However, the Potas are highly into personal biomodification, so the exact characteristics vary by individual. The Pota are also the first species to successfully pass the trial of ascension. The Pota representative speaks about how the cuisine we have been eating must have been stellar, and mentions that the ingredients came from the finest Pota-run farms. They also mention that this stadium's biosphere is a result of one of their latest experiments in terraforming smaller spaces.
Lastly, the Velz representative glides onto the stage. Being a species of avian-like people, they have wings with a wingspan of around ten meters. They are the latest species to complete the trial of ascension. They briefly speak about how they hope we are enjoying the pillows made out of the finest Velzian feathers.
In order to save space in the primary part of my notebook, I shall write down a large amount of detailed information and history of the various species in the codex.
After the Velz is done, The Gamekeeper speaks once again, for being the host they sure aren't doing a whole lot of work for the ceremony.
"With that folks, our introductions from the contestants and representatives is complete. Now we can move on to the highlight of the event, the signifier ritual.
Now, would each contestant one at a time please step forward, starting from the right and going left."
The person on the far right, April Potter, steps forward. The Gamekeeper then pulls out a device and presses it to her forehead. A loud click can be heard and The Gamekeeper steps back. April turns around and shows everyone her new insignia. It is a depiction of a four pointed star surrounded by a ring with eight dots on it.
Next, the other contestants to my right step forward and have the same procedure repeated. Ray looks absolutely ecstatic and is beaming a large smile as she gets hers.
Now, it is my turn. I step forward and The Gamekeeper puts the device to my forehead. I feel a slight tingle and then the device clicks. I notice a feeling as if data is rushing into my mind, I should check my guidebook later for any new information. I head back to my podium and the ceremony proceeds with the last three contestants. The Gamekeeper speaks again.
"With the ritual done, these seven contestants are now officially and irrevocably contestants in Humanity's Trial of Ascension. Everyone, please give them a round of applause. Now, as our last event for this ceremony, we shall hear a message from the IEC's founder, Sir Slak Korb."
At the center of the stage appears a hologram of a very old looking Vaux. They proceed to give a speech about why the IEC was founded, its goals, yadda yadda. A bunch of boring mumbo jumbo about why we are important. They conclude the message with a salute, and everyone in the audience (including The Gamekeeper) follows suit. It feels strange to know that all these alien species are saluting to my own species. But it also feels good, almost as if I am worth something, even though I know I'm just a worthless NEET.
"With this, the induction ceremony for Humanity's Trial of Ascension is now completed. Thank you everyone for making time to attend this monumental event in our universe's history."
With this conclusionary statement made by The Gamekeeper, the in-person audience starts to disperse. Myself and the other contestants are led back into the antechamber. After we arrive in the antechamber, I sit down on one of the sofas, and Ray sits next to me, silently. A few minutes pass and then Eve appears with a message.
"Congratulations on your induction ceremony, contestants. You are now free to stay here, or return to your ships, or those of other contestants, for conversation and relaxation. Please be ready at 19:00 IST for the start of the ascension gala."
The entire ceremony took about three hours, so it is 7:00 IST, meaning we have twelve hours until we are required to attend the gala. I look at Ray, and she starts to speak.
"Ko, that conversation from earlier is not over. Let's go talk on my ship."
I nod and follow Ray as she exits. Duck (her MPAD) and Alex are waiting, I tell Alex that we are going to follow them. We take the rail network to Ray's ship the Uriel. When we board the ship, which appears to be identical to my own in structure, the onboard AI addresses us.
"Welcome back Captain Rayleigh, and guest Kovon Ducker. The Uriel has sustained no damage or other changes in your absence. Shall I have the drones prepare a meal for the two of you?"
"Thank you Uri, yes please prepare a small meal for the two of us."
Ray says this and then proceeds into the ship and sits down in the lounge. I notice that throughout her ship are various personal decorations. Pictures of her family, friends from university and school and many pictures from various vacations she has taken. Compared to my own ship, it feels much more like a residence among the stars. I move to sit down on the couch, but she motions for me to stop.
She then stands up, walks over to me, and sucker punches me right in the face. Ouch. Due to the augmentation kit, the pain quickly subsides as though it wasn't there, but I still remember it.
"Jerk, can't believe you just showed up out of literally nowhere to steal my spotlight yet again. It's just like that time back in seventh year when you showed up to the science fair two hours late with a revolutionary invention and they somehow let you take first prize away from me."
I remember that time, I think when I was on the 1st place pedestal towering above her, I let out a maniacal laugh in her general direction. She punched me then too, times never change I suppose.
"Sounds like you don't mind me stealing the spotlight just so long as you can punch me afterwards. Perhaps I will do it with this trial as well."
"About that, we should work together to make sure one of us comes out as the victor. I'm all for taking chances, but some of those other contestants don't seem to be the best sort to raise humanity up to intergalactic superpower status."
"I agree, us working together would be the most logical decision given the circumstances. However, I propose that we still have somewhat of a friendly rivalry just between us. After all, only one of us can become the administrator, so long as its one of us, a little competition can't hurt, now can it?"
"Now that's what I'm talking about, nothing like a little bit of risk thrown in to make a gamble a bit more entertaining."
"Now, about our strategy…."
We talk for many hours, once the meal is prepared we take a break and eat it. Uri suggests we break out a bottle of Potaian liquor, which we do gladly. We iron out many of our strategies and the extent of information we will share. In summary, we are working together and will share almost all of our information and resources, however when it comes to the trials, if we end up directly against each other in a 1v1, we will fight each other with all our power.
I guess that now, it is time for us to attend this grand party or whatever. I'm certain that with me working to support Ray that she can definitely take the top place. I only hope that she doesn't pull any funny business to make me win in her rightful place. After all, what does a skillless NEET have compared to one of humanity's greatest minds? Whatever is to come in the future, we will be prepared, so, bring it on.
End of Chapter 7
A/N: why hello there dear reader, it's the author again. I hope you enjoyed that extra-long chapter packed with lots of information about the contestants and other species in the universe. The pairing of Ray and Ko is definitely one to watch out for in the future, they are sure to do some interesting things.
On another note, I have a special gift for my dear readers! Included as a 'volume 0' I have published a bunch of chapters containing notes about various things that exist in the universe. I am dubbing this 'Kovon's Codex'. Be sure to check it out, it contains lots of interesting lore about different species and inventions. The best part, it will be updated as the story progresses and the Ko/Ray pair learn more things. So be sure to check back periodically for new information
As always, thank you for reading my little novel. Any suggestions/feedback/comments/fun jokes are appreciated, so please leave them if you have any.
Cathrix